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Rivière l'Estère
Rivière l'Estère is a 74 km (46-mile) river in north-central, Haiti. About The Estère River is the second largest of the rivers of Artibonite Department, which water the plain, after the Artibonite River. It leaves the Cahos Mountains, rises to the northwest, arrives at the sea abundant, between the mouth of the Artibonite and Gonaïves, a little south of the mouth of Laquinte. As well as Artibonite, Estère has a large number of tributaries coming all from the right, and it is important to know that they are used to transport the mahogany and logwood from the plains and mountains, and to irrigate the fertile and vast plains of the mountains. Gonaïves: 1. Cabeuil, which descends from the mountains to the north of the Cahos, and is lost in the Estère after having received the waters of the Morne-Rouge River. of India, which originated at the summit of the monta-gne of the Coupe-It-l'Inde, N, N.- of the Petite-Rivière de l'Artibonite, 3 ° La Source • à-l India, coming from the neighborhood of Cabone, which falls into the river of India before its meeting with Estève; 4th. The marsh, formed, like the preceding, by the springs and the avalanches of the morne of the same name; 5. The Little River or Petit Bras, which flows into the Artibonite. It is a branch of the Lower Estere; it dries up in times of drought. Beyond the river of Estève, on the hills of the Pitons and Ver-dur, lie the citadels of the imperial city of Dessalines. The Estère, periodically overflowing each year like the Nile in Egypt, spreads on both banks where it deposits a soil laden with silt which facilitates the establishment of rice fields that can be spread throughout its long and wide route. The rice that comes from it is most esteemed. The river was dammed in 1887 on Caramel dwellings, Joffroy, Dupitrail, Lavaud, the town of Dessalines. The common limit of the boroughs of Saint-Marcet des Gonaives lies from the mouth of the Estève, in the Bay of Grand-Pierre, the first to the mouth of Mont-Rouis, the second to the south. -Port-à-Piment dock. Estere has a depth of 14 feet of water in many places; its course is 75 kilometers. There are caimans who go far inland, stealing poultry and pigs from neighboring farms. Seeing bodies floating on the water we think we see the wrecks of the river: they are caimans. They are killed to sell their teeth. Here is how they are taken: at a distance of six feet from the bank, two small wells, two feet wide and five feet deep, are dug, taking care to on the banks of the river, two small passages leading to the wells. The intervals and the whole summit of the bank, to the right and to the left, are filled with fascines, so that the cai-man, finding no other passage for his nocturnal walks, falls headlong into the hole, and his Efforts to get out are futile. In the morning, they are killed with bayonets, and their teeth are removed to sell. Each caiman brings in about ten centimes. The living caymans come at night to devour the flesh of the dead. It's a terrible parish. They fear living people that they do not attack. When the dogs want to cross the river, they come to bark somewhere on the beach to attract the caimans. At a certain moment, when the dogs suppose the caimans made where their barking called them, they leave hurriedly, and go over the river above, beyond the reach of the caimans. Another inconvenience of the Estère, is to have on its edges a lot of bigaillos, little flies which attach themselves to the skin of the traveler and suck his blood. The bridge of the Estère is the pass of the river which connects Saint-Marc and the plain of Artibonite with the plain of Gonaïves, and with the road of North by the Savannah Désolée. When the deck of the Estero Bridge is repaired, Gonaives is despatched from the post office to St. Marc by a boat. The same canoe reports the correspondence for Gonalves. Mail from Port-au-Prince arrives from Saint-Marc at the bridge of Estère on Sunday, and returns from Gonaïves on Wednesday. The government proposes to build a bridge or iron bridge in this area that will be 45 meters long. History • In 1794, at the approach of Toussaint-Louverture, the Spanish garrison who occupied these areas took flight and retired to the Pont de l'Estère (Estère Bridge). Toussaint ordered Blanc Casenave, his lieutenant, a man of color, to seize this bridge. He went to make his submission to Governor Laveaux at Port-de-Paix, and returned to consolidate the victory of his lieutenant. After the fall of Rigaud in 1800, Dessalines brought, from Saint-Marc to Gonaïves, a large number of Rigaudine prisoners. When they arrived at the Pont de l'Estère, they were killed with bayonets. • In 1802, at the approach of the Rochambeau division, Toussaint abandoned the position at Pont de l'Estère and withdrew to the Couriotte Habitation, from where he went to fortify Crête-à-Pierrot, which he found dismantled. On the 7th of July, 1866, General Turenne Guerrier, commander of the district of St. Marc, at the head of the forces of his district, met the rebels of Gonaïves at Gros Morne de Saint-Marc; he pushed them back beyond the plateau of l'Estère, where they dispersed, leaving 34 prisonners in his hands. Category:Haiti Hydro Category:Artibonite